$8-$10 Concert Only | $20 Includes Light Food and Beverage from 6pm to 8:30pm

Trinosophes artist-in-residence Bob Ostertag is passing through Detroit halfway through a year-long world concert tour. In the last six months he has played in Mexico, Central America, the Balkans, Europe, and the Middle East. In the coming six months he will perform in China, the Philippines, Malaysia, India, Peru, and more.

Ostertag will give a short talk about his work, followed by a performance of his piece, Sooner or Later. Probably his best known work, the music is created using only his field recording of a young boy burying his father during the Salvadoran civil war in the 1980s. Ostertag recently performed the piece in Beirut, Belgrade and San Salvador, three cities at the heart of three protracted and bitter civil wars. The major newspaper in Belgrade reported:

“…We witness the rhythm of a milestone of life. The cries of the boy and the crumbling of soil are grinding the reality into molasses of such thickness that we start to feel the true panic. You nearly suffocate in this vibrant syrup of pure sorrow. But suddenly you emerge into a polyphony … Out of the blue there is an oratorio of voices and instruments of nature … Very, very spiritual. We are stunned.”– Zorica Kojić for Danas daily Belgrade, Serbia

For those unfamiliar with his work, he has published dozens of CDs of music, two movies, two DVDs, and four books. His writings on contemporary politics have been published on every continent and in many languages. Electronic instruments of his own design are at the cutting edge of both music and video performance technology. He has performed at music, film, and multi-media festivals around the globe. His radically diverse collaborators include the Kronos Quartet, the avant garde’s John Zorn, heavy metal star Mike Patton, jazz great Anthony Braxton, punk rocker Lynn Breedlove, transgender diva Justin Viviane Bond, Quebecois film maker Pierre Hébert, and others. He is rumored to have connections to the shadowy media guerrilla group The Yes Men. In March 2006 Ostertag made all of his recordings to which he owns the rights available as free digital downloads under a Creative Commons license.

Earlier in the evening, Trinosophes will be serving dinner, accompanied by music performed by some previous Detroit Commissioning Project artists and other friends. We will also announce the winners of “The Trinosphere”, a cash prize awarded to under-recognized artists who have made great impact in the area.